"The opposition leader describes the science as absolute crap ... what a disreputable position for a political leader in this country," he said during question time on Wednesday.

Mr Combet said President Obama had clearly stated his preference was "something like" a cap-and-trade emissions trading scheme (ETS), but the policy had been blocked by partisan interests in the US congress.

President Obama did not specifically mention a cap-and-trade scheme in his speech but alluded to one when he said he'd work with anyone to develop a "bipartisan, market-based solution to climate change".

Instead President Obama announced a goal to reduce carbon pollution and a range of measures including cleaning up power plants, supporting investment in renewable energy and improving overall energy efficiency.

Mr Combet said this approach resembled Labor's clean energy futures plan, a point refuted by his coalition counterpart Greg Hunt.

"What we've seen from the United States is a clear commitment to action on climate change but without a carbon tax, without an emissions trading scheme, without a cap-and-trade scheme," he told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.

The opposition climate action spokesman said Obama's policies best resembled the coalition's Direct Action and showed other nations were choosing to reduce CO2 emissions without a carbon tax.

Mr Combet dismissed Direct Action as a "figleaf policy".

Australian Greens leader Christine Milne said any attempt to compare Direct Action with the US plan was "misleading", but questioned how successful Obama's measures would be without an ETS.

Environment think tank The Climate Institute said there were "important lessons" from Obama's strategy, which had important strengths and limitations.

Facing fierce opposition in Congress to his calls for a cap-and-trade carbon market, Obama had resorted to direct regulatory measures to meet the US' emissions targets.

"This has resulted in a raft of interventions, as opposed to a more streamlined and economically efficient carbon limit and price," Institute head John Connor said in a statement.

Australia's carbon price on Monday will rise from $23 per tonne of emissions to $24.15, despite efforts by the coalition in parliament on Wednesday to block the legislated increase.